“Flexi-start” subscriptions (previously called “open-issue” subscriptions) are simply subscription products sold through Subsail which don’t have a specified start issue. Flexi-start products will have their start issue change automatically as you release new issues. This is very useful if you want to avoid creating new products each time a new issue comes out.

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How it works

When a customer purchases an open-issue subscription, Subsail will look at your issues and select one based on the “date as start issue” data you have provided. You can create open-issue subscription products on both automatic and manual Sources, and subscriptions you sell through Subsail. Note: Open-issue subscription products will not be created when importing with uploaded CSV files.

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How to create flexi-start subscription products

When creating or editing a subscription product, you can select between the “Current issue” or “Current or next issue” options.

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How it works at checkout

Flexi-start subscriptions are shown in the checkout as starting with your current issue, matching the “current start issue” as listed on your issues page (see image below) “Next issue” will be the issue following your “current start issue” by issue number. (If your current start issue is 10, the “next” start issue will be 11, regardless of the dates you save on your issues).

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How to change the start issue of your flexi-start products

Because there is no manual selection for the start issue, Subsail relies on the dates you set on your Issues. Each issue has a “Date as first issue” field, which is what Subsail uses to determine which issue is your “current start issue”. You can always check and confirm which issue Subsail considers the “start issue” by checking your Issues page in Subsail (see image above).